Five Ways to Add Depth to Your General Music Lesson Plans

As music teachers, we know how easy it is for a lesson to become a checklist: covered rhythm? ✅  Did the class sing today? ✅  Played the instruments? ✅ But what if we pushed just a little deeper? Not with more content, but by enriching what we’re already doing? 

Here are five practical and teacher-tested ways to add depth to your general music lessons without reinventing the wheel. 

Repetition doesn’t have to feel repetitive. Revisiting skills students have already learned is a key way to build confidence, reinforce understanding, and prepare for the next level of musical growth. The trick is to repackage that practice in a new context. 

Example: If your students have already learned ta and ti-ti (quarter and eighth notes), try having them read a rhythm pattern and then improvise their own using classroom percussion. Or, turn it into a rhythm relay race—teams take turns clapping patterns, passing the baton (or rhythm stick) as they go. 

Not only are they practicing known concepts, but they’re also building fluency and applying skills in a more engaging way. 

Music is inherently social. Why should our lessons be any different? Collaborative activities allow students to learn from each other, strengthen communication, and build ensemble skills in a natural way. 

Example: Have students work in small groups to create a simple ostinato using body percussion. One group might create a clapping pattern, another a stomping one, and so on. After practice, layer the patterns to build a full group performance. 

Students love the ownership and creativity this fosters, and it brings out teamwork in a way that solo work just can’t match. 

Creating music doesn’t have to mean writing a symphony; it can be as simple as choosing instruments, arranging a short phrase, or inventing a melody. When students are involved in making their own music, they connect with the material in a deeper, more personal way. 

Example: After learning a pentatonic melody on xylophones, challenge students to compose an 8-beat phrase of their own using the same notes. Provide them with a simple template or have them notate it on whiteboards. 

Even your youngest learners will light up when they hear their own music played back! 

Music doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and chances are, what you’re teaching ties in beautifully with something students are already learning elsewhere. Connecting music to other subjects not only reinforces their learning but gives it real-world relevance. 

Example: If students are studying poetry in ELA, explore how lyrics use rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. Have them write a short poem and set it to a simple beat or melody. Suddenly, language arts and music are speaking the same language. 

Bonus: your ELA teachers will love you. 

Every student learns differently—so why should there be only one way to show what they know? Offering options allows more students to succeed and feel confident. 

Example: After a unit on instrument families, you might give students three options to demonstrate their understanding: 

• Create a poster showing how different instruments are classified 
• Perform a short skit where each student “acts” as an instrument and describes their family 
• Record a podcast-style audio segment explaining the differences 

Same content, different avenues—and students get to choose what works best for them. 

Adding depth to your general music lessons doesn’t mean making them more complicated—it means making them richer. By practicing old skills in new ways, encouraging collaboration, opening doors to creativity, making cross-curricular ties, and giving students multiple ways to shine, we help our learners grow not just as musicians, but as thinkers and creators. 

You don’t need to do all five every lesson—but sprinkle a few in, and you’ll notice the difference. More engagement. More connections. More music. 

And isn’t that what we’re here for? 

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Blog Post Contributor: Erin Zaffini